'Movie palace' job unique 
Byrd's manager says job is neat but frustrating 

BY TIM VAUGHAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Mar 12, 2002

Todd Schall-Vess doesn't have to go far to see a movie.     

If he doesn't feel like cranking up  the  considerable  home
theater  system  in  his  apartment,  he can walk across the
street to the Byrd  Theatre,  Richmond's  second-run  "movie
palace," where he's the manager.                            

"A  lot  of people in the business don't go to movies.  It's
like a busman's holiday to  them,"  Schall-Vess  said  while
sitting  in  his  apartment,  which  is decorated with movie
posters, neon signs  and  a  vintage  movie-theater  popcorn
popper.   Occasionally,  he ventures to a suburban multiplex
to see new releases.                                        

"Nine out of ten times, I've seen the movie we're showing. I
go to movies all the time."                                 

Schall-Vess  took over as a projectionist at the Byrd when a
friend left the job, and he later became general manager.   

Running  the   73-year-old   Byrd   -   with   its   massive
Czechoslovakian  crystal  chandelier,  Wurlitzer  organ  and
expanses of marble and sculpted plaster adorning its  French
Empire  decor  -  clearly entails more than just sweeping up
and closing the door at night.                              

"I sit here and look at it and think, 'This is my workplace.
The   Byrd   Theatre.'   It's  very  neat.   But  it's  also
frustrating because everything is old.  Everything becomes a
major undertaking."                                         

Born in Clifton Forge, Schall-Vess moved to Richmond when he
was 10.  He has been interested in all things  show-business
since  childhood.   "My  very  first  paying  job  was  as a
projectionist at West Tower Cinemas.  Everything  that  I've
ever done professionally has been show-related in some way."

By  the  time he graduated from high school, Schall-Vess was
acting in community theater, an  activity  he  continues  to
engage in.  He also works as a lighting designer at the Glen
Allen Cultural Arts Center and elsewhere.                   

He became a union projectionist and worked for  a  while  in
Pittsburgh  before  returning for an assistant manager's job
at Chesterfield Towne Center's cinemas.  He also managed the
Ashland  Theater for a time.  Never, though, has he lived so
close to work.                                              

"The position really changed with me," he said, referring to
his philosophy that the general manager should not only keep
the books, but also be around the  theater  at  its  busiest
times.                                                      

"The  reality  of it is, I'm responsible for what happens at
the theater whether I'm there or not.  It's not unusual  for
me  to  look  out and see a line down the street and go over
and see if they need any help."                             

A big part of Schall-Vess' job is explaining to  people  how
the Byrd operates.                                          

"One  of  the  biggest myths surrounding the Byrd Theatre is
the 'angel myth,' that there is some rich person  with  deep
pockets who keeps it open," he said.  The truth is, "we have
no backstop."                                               

The theater is owned by a  private  estate  and  businessman
Duane  K.   Nelson.   Its  inclusion  as  a  landmark on the
National Register of Historic Places came with a plaque, but
no money.                                                   

The  theater makes its profit on popcorn, soft drinks, candy
and whatever else moviegoers buy at the concession stand.   

"The lion's share of what is taken in at the box office goes
back to the people who own the film."                       

Among other little-known facts about the Byrd:              

<> It was not designed as a live theater. It has always been
   a movie theater.                                         

<> It originally had no concession stand. The Byrd has never
   been  completely  renovated.

<> The crystal chandelier was assembled inside the  theater;
   therefore,  no entranceway  is  large  enough  for  it to
   pass through.                                            

<> The Byrd was the first theater in  Richmond  specifically
   designed  for  "talkies," or  movies  with  sound.  Other
   theaters  showed  talkies  before the Byrd, but they  had
   to  be  fitted  with sound systems.                      

The  theater's age, a source of many of its charms, also can
cause problems.  The theater held on  to  its  old-fashioned
carbon-arc  projector lamps as long as it could, Schall-Vess
said, but only two manufacturers make  carbon-arc  projector
parts these days, "and the quality was awful."              

The   theater   recently   converted  to  modern  xenon-bulb
projector lamps.  It wasn't in the theater's budget  to  buy
new  ones and have them installed - which could have cost as
much as $15,000 - so Schall-Vess was able to  track  down  a
set of used bulbs from the defunct Plaza Drive-In.          

To  save  more  money, Schall-Vess and others worked through
the night to install them, and showtime began as  usual  the
next day at 7:35 p.m.                                       

The Byrd gets movies from the same distributors as first-run
theaters, but the difference is "we have to wait.  We  don't
have  any  control  over when something becomes available to
us."                                                        

For instance, Schall-Vess wanted to kick  off  the  upcoming
Virginia  Commonwealth  University French Film Festival with
last year's critically acclaimed "Amelie."                  

The film has been out  of  first  run  for  some  time,  but
because  it  is under consideration for an Academy Award for
Best Foreign Film,  the  studio  is  holding  the  film  for
re-release in case it wins, Schall-Vess said.               

"We can beg, we can plead, but they hold all the keys."     

Schall-Vess also must try to choose movies that will deliver
the biggest box-office receipts from the  titles  available.
With only one screen, the decision can be crucial.          

"The multiplex is a numbers game," he said.  "If you have 20
screens, you can gamble with what you think is going  to  do
well.   A  bad  choice  for us is a week's commitment to red
ink, but sometimes we don't have anything else to show."    

While the experience of seeing a movie in  an  old-fashioned
movie   house   draws  some  people,  attendance  is  almost
"completely dependent" on what movie is  showing,  he  said.
Last  year's big winner was "Shrek," while so far this year,
"Kate and Leopold" has done the best.                       

Being a movie buff helps Schall-Vess select  movies,  though
he  admits  moviegoers  can be a fickle bunch, even when the
admission price is $2.                                      

"People go into a theater with expectations, and  they  turn
their   back  on  something  that  doesn't  appeal  to  them
instantly," he said.                                        

"They need to be a willing traveler.  The  person  going  to
see a movie has to bring something to the experience."      

Contact Tim Vaughan at (804) 649-6872 or
tvaughan@timesdispatch.com